Thai King's Daughter Remains Unconscious Weeks after Collapsing

Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha greets royalists, at The Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, November 1, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha greets royalists, at The Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, November 1, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
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Thai King's Daughter Remains Unconscious Weeks after Collapsing

Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha greets royalists, at The Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, November 1, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha greets royalists, at The Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, November 1, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

Thailand's Princess Bajrakitiyabha remained unconscious more than three weeks after collapsing due to a heart problem, a palace statement said in an update on the health of the 44-year-old potential heir to the throne.

The eldest child of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn lost consciousness on Dec. 15 due to severe heart arrhythmia resulting from inflammation following a mycoplasma infection, according to a statement issued by the palace late on Saturday.

The princess's "overall condition is that she remains unconscious," Reuters quoted the palace as saying.

"Doctors continue to provide medicine and use equipment to support the functions of the heart, lung and kidney as well as using antibiotics while monitoring her condition closely," it said.

Princess Bajarakitiyabha fell ill while preparing her dogs for a competition in northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province, where she was initially treated before being taken by helicopter to Bangkok.

She is one of three children of King Vajiralongkorn who have formal titles, making her eligible for the throne under a palace succession law and the country's constitution.

The king has yet to formally designate an heir and there has been no official discussion on the prospect of the princess taking the throne.

Princess Bajarakitiyabha, a trained lawyer with master and doctorate degrees from Cornell University, has served as Thai ambassador to Austria, Slovenia and Slovakia and in roles with the Attorney General's office, the Royal Security Command and as Thai ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.

She was born on Dec. 7, 1978. Her mother is the king's first wife, Princess Soamsawali.



Russian Shelling Kills Boy in Ukraine Town near Border, Kyiv Says

 Ukrainian tanks of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade take part in the training of fighters of the Shkval special battalion, created from ex-convicts, in an unspecified place in the Donetsk region on July 26, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
Ukrainian tanks of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade take part in the training of fighters of the Shkval special battalion, created from ex-convicts, in an unspecified place in the Donetsk region on July 26, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
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Russian Shelling Kills Boy in Ukraine Town near Border, Kyiv Says

 Ukrainian tanks of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade take part in the training of fighters of the Shkval special battalion, created from ex-convicts, in an unspecified place in the Donetsk region on July 26, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)
Ukrainian tanks of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade take part in the training of fighters of the Shkval special battalion, created from ex-convicts, in an unspecified place in the Donetsk region on July 26, 2024, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (AFP)

A 14-year-old boy was killed and 12 other people wounded in a Russian rocket attack on the small town of Hlukhiv in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy region on Saturday, the Ukraine prosecutors' office said.

The attack on the town near the Russian border hit apartment blocks, houses, an educational institution, a shop and vehicles at around 12:40 p.m. (0940 GMT), the prosecutors' office said. Six of the wounded were also children, it added.

Reuters could not confirm the account independently.

Hlukhiv is about 10 km (6 miles) from the border with Russia, which has been regularly shelling Ukrainian frontier regions in recent months. There was no immediate comment from Russia.